Groundcover Guild

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Example of a Native Plant Guild:
***For Reference Only - Not For Purchase***

What to plant under that beloved backyard tree: a living, edible carpet of color, texture, and flavor.

What Is a Guild?

A guild is an idea borrowed from nature and from permaculture: a community of plants chosen to support one another. Instead of a lonely row of a single crop, a guild layers a central tree or shrub with companions that feed the soil, draw in pollinators, cover bare ground, and yield food — each sharing light, water, and nutrients the way a small patch of wild woodland or meadow does. Plant one, and you're not just gardening; you're starting a little ecosystem.

The Groundcover Guild

This guild blends shade- and sun-loving groundcovers to ring an existing tree — shade-lovers close to the trunk, sun-lovers farther out. Think the ornamental leaves of Redwood Sorrel, the sweet fruit of Woodland Strawberry, the graceful fronds of Spreading Wood Fern, and the edible purple flowers of Early Blue Violet, all knitting together into a low, weed-smothering mat.

Plants in This Guild

  • Redwood Sorrel — shade groundcover green
  • Spreading Wood Fern — shade fern
  • Licorice Fern — shade fern for logs & mossy ground
  • Early Blue Violet — edible-flower groundcover
  • Pacific Waterleaf — shade wildflower green
  • Woodland Strawberry — fruiting groundcover
  • Miner's Lettuce — salad green
  • Salal Berry — evergreen berry groundcover
  • Oregon Stonecrop — sunny succulent groundcover
  • Nodding Onion — edible wild onion
  • Pacific Silverweed — spreading edible root
  • Springbank Clover — nitrogen-fixing edible root

These are the plants we'd reach for — mix, match, and add your own. See each plant's own page for full details, and the Planting Guide tab for how to lay the guild out.

Ecology & Design

A living groundcover does the work of mulch and more: it shades and cools the soil, holds moisture, feeds pollinators, and crowds out weeds — all while feeding you. Arrange it as a gradient, shade-lovers (sorrel, ferns, waterleaf) in the tree's shadow and sun-lovers (stonecrop, strawberry) at the bright edge, with the clover fixing nitrogen throughout.1

References

  1. USDA NRCS Plant Guides (nitrogen-fixing natives: Ceanothus, Shepherdia, Lupinus, Trifolium).

Planting Guide: Groundcover Guild

Tip: Plant it as a light gradient around a tree — shade-lovers near the trunk, sun-lovers at the bright edge — and let it knit into a weed-smothering carpet.

Design & Layout

Near the trunk (shade): Redwood sorrel, ferns, waterleaf, violet.

Bright edge (sun): Stonecrop, strawberry, nodding onion.

Throughout: Salal, silverweed, and nitrogen-fixing clover.

Plan on roughly a 15-ft circle around the tree.

Choosing a Site

Light: A shade-to-sun gradient around the tree.

Soil: Average; humusy near the trunk.

Water: Moderate while it knits together.

Planting Steps

Plant in fall or spring, grouping by light need.

Space to fill in over a season or two; mulch the gaps meanwhile.

Water in well.

Care & Establishment

Year one: Water regularly while everything roots in, even drought-tolerant plants.

Mulch: Mulch bare soil (leaf mold, wood chips) until the groundcovers close in.

Weeding: Keep weeds down the first season or two; after that the guild largely mulches itself.

Patience: Trees, corms, and shrubs settle over a few seasons — the guild fills in and improves each year.

Guild Notes

Living mulch: Once closed in, it shades soil, holds moisture, and crowds out weeds.

Clover: Fixes nitrogen to feed the tree and the bed.

Licorice Fern: Happy on a shaded, mossy patch near the trunk.